Working Towards Location Independence

Wanting To Find Real Freedom

Looking back over my working years, I have really wanted to find real freedom ever since I remember. I have never thought it was right that someone else decides what I do with my life. All those years of having to kiss my boss' ass to get just an extra 5 minutes on a break that they had scheduled for me, or trying my hardest to give them those well-practiced, puppy eyes as I mention that I have to book holiday days because I am a bridesmaid at some fictitious wedding, or using my hereditary features to get sent home from work!

I can say that, sometimes, being as pale as milk is a blessing in disguise because if you strategically wear makeup (naturally) for about three days, then go to work with your hair up and no makeup on, your natural face is the beholder of a great sickness! That, coupled with the ‘sick voice’ will get you home in the first half an hour!

Now, if that is what you have to go through, then you are definitely not in the right job and certainly not living right! My days, I can’t even tell you how many times I have done it.

I Hate Office Jobs

Like I said in my previous post, I was always worried about being late. Seeing growing adults ‘flapping’ at a bus stop or stuck in a traffic jam because they are going to be late just made me think that there must be something better than this! Of course, there is, they just don’t want you to know that there is something better because they know you would be hitting the road quicker than Jack!

I remember walking into an office which I used to work in and I started at 9 am. I walked in at 8:55 am and myself and those arriving with me were subjected to a public scolding because, apparently, we should arrive 15 minutes before shift (obviously unpaid) to prepare, set up and start. Then I am the bad guy when I say that I refuse to arrive earlier if they won’t pay me for it.

Nothing will change there though because there are enough pushovers working in these offices that get told to arrive earlier and when I walk in the door, there they are, all set up and ready and chatting on their first calls or tippy tappying away on their keyboards to show that they are dedicated for that minimum wage. eww.

One of my most recent observations, in this freedomless work life, was the faces of those who don’t get their holiday requests accepted. *It is good to note at this point* that if you are in an interview and you tell them you have a holiday already booked for Christmas or another time you want off, they are obligated to grant you that time off! Get your holidays booked in your interview and you’re set!

Anyway, where was I? Ah yes, I saw a face of one of my colleagues who had been hoping, with all her heart, to spend Christmas with her mother who lives in Australia and it had been over a year. I mean, come on! - it isn't like you can just pop home and say hello when you live in Europe.

Seeing that heartbreak when it was a "no", especially when her job could have been done from home 100%, really showed me how much everyone is longing for the freedom or in this case, just to go home. Hey, and don’t even get me started on running out of holiday days!

Let's Break It Down

I could go on ranting about all this all day, from small business to big corporations, they are all the same! I get wound up by a lot of things when it comes to obligations at work and one of them being Business attire.

Oh, come on! Who is even going to see you inside those four walls and are you gonna send a sufficient email just because you have smart trousers on or can you answer a phone better in a shirt? I am sat writing this in my pyjamas (that don't even match), so it must be terrible, sorry!

Some companies are making their way to ‘Smart casual’ where you can get rid of the shirt and maybe the heels, but don’t you dare wear pink shoes or have some holes in your jeans, because then you are not appropriately dressed to send an email!!

Just look at all these 'smart casual' people, working hard. Not sure is those guys in shorts will have the best emails.

FUN FACT! Did you know that years ago the shift length used to be around 12 to 16 hours to keep them factories running? That was quite unsustainable. so in 1817, someone thought he was giving us the freedom we deserve with his 8-hour shift idea.

His slogan was "Eight hours labour, eight hours recreation, eight hours rest." Good old Robert Owen, hey? Personally, I’ve never heard of him, but yeah, ok I can admit that 8-hour shifts are much better than 16 hours but I think we can hit another turning point and drop it again.

In my opinion, if everyone was paid well enough to work part-time, let's say 4 hours a day, more jobs would open up to do the other 4 hours and people would be much happier, hence much more productive. Not up to me though, sorry.

EVEN FUNNER FACT! Did you know that most companies will make you work an 8 hour to a 12-hour shift, but the average productivity of an employee is around 3 hours? So, the rest of the time is spent on faffing around, checking your phone, making coffee, lots of toilet trips and chatting with your colleagues about what you are up to this weekend, and, not forgetting, casually looking at funny animal videos on Youtube. Clearly, companies are paying your (not very well admittedly) 8 hours, but really only getting a good 3 to 4 hours out of you.

Check out this little read HERE I’m not kidding! (for those not as outstandingly, technically advanced as me, you have to click the 'here' bit! But don’t forget to come back to my post, don’t go swanning off on to that site and leaving me behind!)

Ok ok, glad I got all that off of my chest, rant over, don’t worry I won’t spend all this time complaining about how things are in the world we have to live in. I’ll get back to my story because I can feel you rolling your eyes thinking ‘here we go again’.

I Had No Idea

So, in my early twenties, I had no idea what I wanted to do, I didn’t go to university because I couldn’t stand all the writing about things that, more often than not, I didn’t really care about. I am also a terrible student. I never did my homework and my attention span in the lessons was very, very short!

Anyhow, I couldn’t even decide on a bloody hairstyle, never you mind figuring out what my future would hold.

Only after 30 years on this earth have I decided that I am quite happy with my hairstyle and it seems to be lasting, I am all grown up see?

I went through a crisis at around the age of 23. Not knowing what I was meant to be doing, I was just Mrs Job Hopper, hoping to find something that I would stick with. I was so worried because I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and I started to compare myself to others around me, which was a big mistake.

This lasted until I was about 28 years old, I know, a long time! It isn’t a nice feeling not knowing what you want to do. Feeling trapped and not having the confidence to take on something that could potentially work out. There were a couple of things that shed a little bit of light in my life and I want to share them with you.

The first thing that got me through was a song that my dad showed me. This advice needs to be heard by everyone. You might think it is just a song, but give it a chance!

And I was once listening to Billy Connolly on a show, now I don’t know much about old Billy, but he said something on an interview this particular day and it stuck. I had gotten caught up seeing all my friends with their degrees and careers and I was just hoping to have something to pay the bills. Now good old Mr Connelly said “Fuck careers, do something you like until you don’t like it anymore, then do something else. You will be much happier in life”

With this knowledge, I was able to calm down and I knew everything was going to be ok. I know there are so many people out there feeling exactly how I felt because society revolves around those boxes being ticked.

Education

Career

Marriage

House

Kids

All these ticked? Well done you have made it!!! Now what? (a bit of an eye roll there, only a bit don’t go getting all offended now)

You don’t NEED any of these like society makes you think, to live a great life, to enjoy living. A lot of people forget to live whilst in pursuit of ticking these off. If you want these, that’s great, but do them for YOU, not this tick box culture we live in today! I have had people ask me what I do, before asking what my name is. Oh deary me.

Anyway, see that is all beside the point I am making my way to, very slowly I must admit. But, I really want you to know that I had no idea and I have had my fair share of jobs and disappointments, but now I am so happy and I want you to be too. Now that I can work wherever I want, now that I am location independent.

Now I have caught you up, I will get right on to how I got to work wherever I want, what I did and what I needed to do it. Nope, you don’t need to pay for it and I hope it inspires you to do it too because offices are outdated and old news!

I have ranted a bit too much for this week, so let's speak again soon to talk about the who, what, where, when and why to be Location Independent and in reality have real freedom!